Dear
colleague,
Last September, 2003, we held
in the atlantic Canary Island of La Palma (Spain) the
12th International Symposium on
Chromaffin Cell Biology. This beautiful place at the beach of Los Cancajos
provided a perfect ambiance to foster lively discussions between old
colleagues and young scientists. The main topics for the symposium were
devoted to catecholamine synthetic enzymes, secretory vesicles biogenesis
and traffic, storage, release and actions of secreted products (catecholamines,
purines, peptides) as well as the excitation-releasing coupling like membrane
ion channels, intracellular calcium homeostasis and exo/endocytosis. Beside
that, a couple of workshops dedicated to the new advances in tissue culture
and proteomics took place. These meetings have traditionally
encouraged the poster presentations to enhance the communication within
the attendants. Posters were displayed along the whole meeting.